Bernard Alonso was trained in Permaculture with Grégoire Lamoureux from the Kootenay Permaculture Institute (BC), Émilia Hazelip, and later with Dave Jacke, the acclaimed author of Edible Forest Gardens. He further developed his experience by applying the principles of Permaculture to his farm in Rougemont, Quebec, which he called Perma-Coop. In 1993 he began to create a team around the Perma-Coop;  the organic apple orchard, the Mother Nature Gardens (a CSA with 60 shares), and the Mother Nature School. This educational program greeted more than 10,000 students per year in ‘’green classes’’ workshops, helping young people develop an awareness of nature, ecology and the joys of farming. Bernard Alonso also ran the Equestrian Farm of Mont-Rouge, a renowned stable for training horses. Beginning in 1995, in collaboration with the RHA and Grégoire Lamoureux from British Columbia, he organized courses and PDC on his farm. Students of all ages and backgrounds have participated, some of whom have become permaculturalists of high caliber.

 

In 2007 he sold the farm to set off in the world, to share on a wider scale these revolutionary ways of interpreting and mimicking Nature … which, according to Bernard, will ensure the ecological sustain ability of tomorrow’s world.

Bernard Alonso has the soul of a teacher, with a love of Nature as well as a desire to share his experience. In 2007 and 2008, he was invited to the south of India to learn and practice tropical Permaculture. Sponsored by the Sri Vast Foundation of Sweden, along with Heal The Soil group, he taught applied Permaculture to local farmers, children, and indigenous women. He introduced simple and sustainable techniques that would allow attaining autonomy in the near future, cultivating healthy food without an environmental impact.

He has since been sharing his passion for Permaculture in the Occident and the orient, giving courses in Canada as well as France, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal,  with other projects being organized in Guatemala, Honduras, and so on.

Bernard Alonso has been on the board of directors of Nature-Action Quebec since 1993, and was publicly recognized in 2007 for his 20 years of service for the environment. In 1996 his farming project was chosen as a model farm for “Eco-Sommet 96″.

” My ultimate goal is to spread, in a positive and concrete way, a lifestyle that is sustainable, healthy, and in harmony with the Earth, as well as with the animals, the plants, and the human beings who inhabit it. To accomplish this, I use Permaculture as the primary tool. Every applicable approach that is respectful and provides service to the whole is encompassed in my vision.” ~ Bernard Alonso